Peace-Seeking Missles

Anything Bush could do, Obama can do with greater impunity. When Bush and Blair launched wars they were evil unjust wars, but when Obama launches wars, its the spreading of peace around the globe. They're peace-seeking missiles he uses on Pakistan. Very sophisticated. Well, it is when the liberal media believe that Obama should always be naked from the waist down, lest the Earth be cast into perpetual darkness. War is peace now.

How to get your video banned from YouTube...

It's easy.

Just criticise gay marriage or President Obama.

Preferably both.

That should secure it.

Google owns YouTube and runs Blogger.

Just thought I'd warn you in case you were unaware.

Fr Aidan Nichols Coming to Brighton

Fr Aidan Nichols is coming to Brighton to speak at St Mary Magdalen Church as part of the series of lectures hosted by St Mary Magdalen Church, Brighton, in the year of 150th Anniversary of its opening.

Fr Nichols has a brilliant mind, is a profoundly gifted theologian and will be speaking on the future of the Church in England on Thursday evening at 7.30pm.

Interesting Video on Same-Sex Marriage in the US

An interesting video this, one that I have been alerted to by a reader. It covers the story of same-sex marriage in the US, covering such issues as the education of children on homosexuality (regardless of what parents would wish their children to know) and the silencing and imprisonment of one Massachussets man for questioning the status quo. It has interviews with men and women who have led the gay lifestyle only to reject it and find love with someone of the opposite sex and it highlights the grave threat to religious liberty which is already apparent in the US in those states which have accepted same-sex marriage. Confirmation, that as the Bee Gees sang, for the US, 'the lights all went down in Massachussets...'

RIP Robin Gibb. RIP religious freedom and the parental moral education of their biological children.

Prime Minister: 'Abortion is Murder for the Purpose of Population Control'

Not the words of our Prime Minister, of course, but those of the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Finally, a politician who tells the truth.

Mears and Brighton and Hove City Council: A Relationship 'Molded' by Public Money

From The Eye of a Needle

I've been sent this quite astonishing video by a reader which is worthy of attention and dissemination. You could be forgiven for thinking that maybe this council accommodation could do with some work. Maybe a spot of restoration and the removal of black mold that caused the children living in this accommodation to develop respiratory problems? Well, you'd be right, but the really astonishing thing about this video is not just the appalling conditions of the accommodation but that it was taken by the mother of a woman with 4 children after Mears Group plc had completed their 'work' on the council property.

The family, a mother with her four children in this two bedroom accommodation were moved out of the Hangleton property after repeated complaints by the family and extended family were made to the Council. To its great credit, The Argus newspaper also covered the story of the squalour of the property and their coverage of the shocking conditions of the accommodation may even have assisted the Council's response to the plight of the family.

The family were moved out of the property and placed in temporary accommodation elsewhere. They have expressed, already, the problems of having four children in a two room property, but were prepared to revisit the accommodation to view it after the Mears maintenance workers had done their work in renovating the property.

In the presence of a Council housing manager and a Mears surveyor, the family were shown the accommodation after the work had been done on it. Having watched the video and seen other pictures of the property, my personal assessment is that the black mold that caused respiratory problems to both adults and children in the property requires some more work. Perhaps Mears Group workers and council housing reps can see something we cannot. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is fine, of course, when you're not the one passing through the eye of a needle.

It suffices to say that this shocking video of the neglect of the Mears company of Council property - a neglect for which Mears are in receipt of around £2million of public money every month - might be a source of embarrassment for both the company themselves and the Council which reward them so handsomely for their 'services'. Maybe Mears, a company which, as we know, was floated on the stock exchange in 2005, don't believe tenants - children and adults - are 'worthy' of accommodation better than this. Maybe they are banking on the rest of the public in Brighton, in Hove and beyond to agree with them.

Perhaps they are banking on everyone in Brighton and others beyond being as heartless as they are. Of course, the ones doing the real banking are the shareholders. I wonder what they would make of this video? Companies which lose reputations have been known to lose some shareholders. Wouldn't it be a shame if Mears lost some of theirs? But hey, that's the world of 'risk' capital and surely, surely someone at Mears Group must know that by leaving residents in Brighton and Hove in such squalour there would always come with it a measure of risk that they might one day get found out.

Gradually, slowly, I hope and I pray that more and more people wi#ll come forward to expose the risks Mears have taken not just with their own reputation as a company in receipt of such vast amounts of public money, but also with the health, safety and well being of adults and children in Brighton...and, most likely, beyond.

You might think that this article couldn't get any more absurd. But you'd be wrong. The Council housing manager, Mr Graham Page, has told the mother of four children that this is the property that they should 'make arrangements to return to' after she has viewed it on the 14th of May and that he would be 'dropping the keys back to her on Wednesday'. Not surprisingly, the mother and her children remain in temporary housing and at this time and, as things stand, refuse to return to the property. Can you blame her? 

Ah, but the plight of this woman and her children isn't really the concern of our elected representatives, is it? I mean, what we need is 'gay marriage', isn't it? That's what concerns most people. People don't mind living in squalor as long as they know a man can have his sexual relationship with another man blessed by the State and have it raised to the status of marriage...its knowing that that makes living in a Council house maintained by a group of local overpaid cowboys sweet and palatable. The vast majority of the poor in this country are not asking for 'equality'. No. What the poor ask for is to be treated with dignity. The demands of the gay lobby and the often silent cries of the poor are, as you will appreciate, worlds apart...

More Gay Marriage Balls

Red Ed and Red Ken playing snooker at a youth club. No, really...

Hard as it may be to believe, I do tire of writing about 'gay marriage' and if you think I'm obsessed with it, then at least be assured that I'm not half as obsessed with it as are our beloved elected politicians who seem to discuss it tirelessly.

Today, Ed Balls has come out in favour of it and into the bargain outed his anonymous gay uncle. Yet, you don't have to be an intellectual rigorist to spot some pretty glaring inconsistencies in Ed's reasoning.

Ed maintains that he 'believes' that his uncle, who never got the chance to have a Civil Partnership with his gay lover, because he died, would have wanted to be married to the chap with whom he shared his life. How well did Ed know this uncle? We're not sure, but the fact that Ed says he 'believes' he would have wanted this, even though he clearly doesn't know for sure, means we'll never know whether the gay uncle would have wanted a gay marriage or, indeed, not.

Then, to make his reasoning even more ridiculous, he says that he wants the name of the uncle to be anonymous in order to respect his privacy. This would suggest that, in some way, either the uncle or others in the family would not want this fact over his sexuality to be revealed.

So, while playing to the gay gallery, Ed makes the fatal mistake of refusing to name the individual because either the uncle himself or the family would rather the individual's sexuality wasn't made public. The gay community, of course, would hate that, because it would suggest that there is some kind of stigma or shame involved in being a homosexual. He's wheeled out his gay uncle but has decided to keep uncle in the closet. Apparently, Ed makes it plain that all the family were just fine about the man's sexuality, but at the same time, wants his sexuality to be private. Yet, we've been led to believe, that homosexuality is a) as natural as water flowing from Buxton springs, b) something to be celebrated and publicly so, and c) so worthy of public celebration, status and expression that marriage should itself be redefined, in order to incorporate the love that dare not keep quiet for a moment, on the statute book to the extent that bits about the consumation of marriage in heterosexual marriages must be removed from English law.

Ed goes on to say:

“As someone who is married myself, I think people who want to get married should be able to get married.” 

Remember readers that Ed Balls is married to a woman. I'm sure Ed would agree that if Ed was married to a man, life wouldn't be the same as it is being married to his missus. What he seems unaware of is the fact that it is because his spouse is a woman that he was able to get married and that in no way was the fact that he wanted to marry a woman an act of heartless discrimination against gays which went in his favour because he's straight. He was able to marry a woman because that is what marriage is - the union of a man and a woman - a union from which the natural fruit of children are born, and within which they are nurtured, raised and educated by their biological parents.

There are a lot of things people want to do which people cannot do by law because it runs contrary to the good of society - the common good. Most people of sound mind would accept that I should not sleep with Ed Balls or indeed his wife because even if I considered myself a younger, more attractive model than Ed or his wife and that I believed he or she wanted me to sleep with him or her, that my doing so wouldn't really be fair on Ed, or his wife or his family. That's called adultery and even though lots of people do it and don't go to jail for doing so, that doesn't actually foster the common good. When Ed was in power as Education Secretary, I believe there were times when I wanted to throttle the power-frenzied bully of Catholic schools. I wanted to throttle him, but had I done so, it would not have been in the common good. Well, that's what I am called to believe...

Just wanting something is not enough reason to redefine a human institution. There are lots of gay chaps out there who accept the chalice of not getting married and having children because in their own judgement as well as that of the Church and hitherto the State, marriage is a human institution which predates both Church and State - it is a convenant that requires only two people - one man and one woman. And who knows, while Ed 'believes' his uncle would have been swanning down the aisle with another man at the drop of the hat, perhaps he was someone who would rather keep his private 'affairs' to himself. 

And, just to ensure that Ed manages to please the homosexual lobby and offend the Churches at the same time, as is fashionable in today's society, he completes his mission by adding:

“I also believe that somebody who is religious and a churchgoer, if the church community wants it in that church, I think people should be able to get married in church too…I really hope the Government will look at that proposal as well. This is something whose time has come.” 

How very thoughtful of you, Ed! Isn't the State just so kind to the Church!?

"That's right all you Priests and Bishops out there! We don't want to leave you out of this same-sex marriage lark. We're going to give you the right to have them in your churches all across the country! All hail the glorious State! How benevolent and wise it is! Oh happy day! The day the State gives Churches that prized right to do what the State wants them to do! Oh, cry freedom! At first we'll permit that you perform these ceremonies if you choose and then, when you do, we can see how happy the State has made gay chaps who disagree with their own Church's teaching up and down the country and grant it to every church! Yes, even those ones that hitherto did not think it was their cup of tea!"

Note how Ed cleverly addresses individuals or 'communities' rather than churches or the Catholic Church. So, you know, as long as an individual wants to get married in a church that's something that the State can allow. Quite how the Church that is approached for a 'gay ceremony' feels about it, Ed seems a little more reluctant to discuss. It's quite revealing about the level of psychological warfare that is being employed by our vanguard of elite totalitairan gangsters. Remember, British people, that there really is no Church as such in this man's thinking. The relationship which Ed considers most important to you isn't your relationship with your Church or even your Lord and God, nor perhaps even your 'partner'. The relationship that most concerns Ed is your relationship with the ever-expanding, over-arching and inglorious State. That is essentially what the 'gay marriage' debate is really about. It is about who gets to define what. Because for some reason, I doubt that after 'gay marriage' becomes law, it will be tolerated if you don't buy the Party line. That's how Nick Clegg treats his own Liberal Democrat MPs. That's how Nick Clegg and David Cameron and Ed Balls (It's a cross party whip this) wishes the British public to be treated as well - as people whose voices and opinions matter not a jot. That's the tyranny of liberalism for you. If that's how Clegg treats people in power - how on earth does he wish to treat people without it!

In order to support the notion of 'equal marriage' in terms of heterosexual marriage and homosexual marriage, chaps like Ed really give the impression that if he were married to a man and had 'consumated his relationshp' with a man, that it would be equal or the same as being married to a woman and making love to that woman - namely - his wife. That's what 'equal marriage' is, isn't it? That's what the dogma of the liberal agenda would suggest. It posits that same-sex marriage is the same as natural marriage even when the biological reality suggests something so different that the bit about consumating the relationship has to be removed from English law.

Aside from being perhaps the biggest threat to freedom of belief, religion and conscience in recent history, 'gay marriage' is also the greatest insult ever thrown at woman in the history of the United Kingdom. The other insult that seems to get thrown around is to homosexuals themselves because, apparently, according to David Cameron, gay marriage would bring stablilty to relationships and society, a statement which sounds a little homophobic to me. I mean, is he saying that there are loads of homosexuals and lesbians out there involved in unstable, destructive relationships or something and that only marriage can 'cure' them? Tsk tsk. Sounds like a 'bigot' to me...

What is Paganism?

I've been in contact with a media company who invited me to talk about paganism and whether it should be taught in schools in RE.

Obviously, the main thrust of what I said was that it should not, since if it is to be taught the pagan-lite elements such as belief in the power of crystals and horoscopes, lessons would at some point have to dabble in the world of the occult and the 'spirit world'. Or, at least, it would be hard to teach what some pagans might believe about stuff like horoscopes if you didn't also include the stuff the some pagans might believe about trying to contacting the dead.

If paganism were a religion to be taught alongside Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and other significant religions, then exactly what would be taught?  The problem of course is that paganism would mean something different depending on which pagan you happened to be talking to. For one it would mean visiting Stonehenge at the summer solstice, for another it might just be some kind of meditation, for another casting a spell, for another reading someone's palm and for another, looking at horoscopes to see what the stars have planned for you.

Paganism in the 21st century in Britain doesn't mean what it meant in pre-Christian Britain, but what does it mean. Should it be taught in schools? Well, what is a Catholic Christian meant to say? No, it shouldn't. Already, children leave schools with little knowledge of what Christians believe. Teaching paganism is just another sign that the Christian content of an RE curriculum would be diluted even more. I'm sure most pagans are 'nice people'. I'm sure most British people are pagans because as Chesterton said, 'When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing. They believe in anything'. The question is do we want to build a society in which children believe in anything - literally anything - even the mystical or fantastical world of sorcery, but with little to no knowledge of the Gospels? And, of course, it has to be said that teaching children about paganism does run a risk that children could develop an unhealthy obsession with the occult. Most sensible people in the UK believe that the world of the occult is a door that one could open if one wanted, but that it isn't very wise to open that door. Most people know someone who has known someone who has used a ouija board and regretted it. Is satanism a 'real religion' that could be taught as part of the paganism module for those pagan who actually go in for it? I mean, where does such a venture start and end? You could teach satanism side by side with Christianity but from what I know of education, children's behaviour in schools is bad enough already...

It's an interesting question, I think, how do you teach paganism when it means something different to every pagan? As far as I know there is no pagan pope, though, there may be a lecturer at a Catholic university somewhere who could apply for the position were it to be created.

Cabinet Culture

There is much talk of today's politicians being 'out of touch' with your average Brit.

It seems to have been said of every government that I can recall, however, and the gulf between 'the people' and 'the people in charge' seems to widen as time goes on. It seems to be a general trend across Europe, too.

There is a palpable sense in which the issues that concern the Prime Minister and his deputy arrive somewhere near the bottom of the 'to do' list scribbled at the back of the minds of most in the UK. Some decisions of course, are on the 'not to do' list for a sizeable proportion of UK citizens. The 'us and them' feeling that we have about our politicians won't have been helped by the publication of the Cabinet's incomes which comes to a grand total of about £70 million a year. For instance, as the cuts deepen and the State abandons the poor, disabled and sick and throw them back to the Church that always loved them - at a time in history when the Church in the UK doesn't have much actual cash - hand-wringing politicians who by most measurements are millionnaires aren't going to get a fantastic reception from your average joe.

When Cameron, Clegg and Osbourne tell us that they've got to make some terribly 'difficult decisions' and that 'we're all going to have to hunker down over this recession and tighten our purse strings' people could rightly think, 'Yes, I'll have to do that, but given that you're actually a millionnaire, so I'm not sure you'll really have to change much about your spending patterns.' Of course, it is terribly vulgar to operate a 'class war' against the Cabinet and we shouldn't give way to actually hating our politicians because of their vast wealth. It does mean, however, that when politicans tell us we're all going to have to 'dig deep for victory' that British people will know that while most Brits are digging something akin to a financial grave, our politicians will still be digging for diamonds and gold and finding plenty of it. Well, they won't find much gold actually, because Gordon Brown sold it. If they even cared to look, they wouldn't find the pensions Brits lost in the economic crash either.

And personally, I wouldn't mind that much if our politicans were really loaded and a significant proportion of UK citizens remained fairly skint but for the fact that both Clegg and Cameron and most of the Cabinet keep banging on about equality all the time. It's 'equality this' and 'equality that'. But how can these people talk of 'equality' when a significant portion of Brits are eeking out their existence in the value section of Asda on their way back to their two bed flat on a housing estate trying to feed four children, but the politicans themselves go home to a luxurious dwelling and order a delivery of the finest Rothschild wine available. Equality - sounds great, please may I have some? Inequality has been with us for a very long time and we've been promised it is here to stay but even if they cared to, how would our politicans - our elite - even begin to understand what life is like for people living outside of the realm of the rich and famous.

Perhaps it is not an award or contract bestowed by the British Government, but if you want to know how absurd things are in Britain today then you just have to look at who is sponsoring the paralympics in London this year. It's not Coca Cola, or Lucozade. It's Atos Healthcare - the American firm who were awarded the contract by the Labour Government to get long term sick, disabled and ill people off benefit and into work by methods which have been generally condemned as a little dubious. A great number of disabled people despise this company, yet in a bizarre PR move, Atos are sponsoring the Paralympics. The contract awarded to the company to get disabled people digging for victory is worth £100 million a year.

Blair made equality his mantra but his love for equality didn't stop him raking in astonishing amounts of money working for rapaciously capitalist companies after his destructive time in power. Nor did it stop him sending his kids to the best and most expensive schools while year after year, while State schools continue to churn out the highest proportion of illiterate and innumerate children in recent memory. Ah, but equality doesn't really mean what it used to mean. Proper socialists, mislead as they are, thought of inequality as an economic issue. Today's politicians believe that equality is a sexual issue or a gender issue because if equality were an economic issue then even Tony Blair may feel a little embarrassed by the fact that he is swimming in money. Do they really think that the electorate are so stupid or that we are so driven by our passions that we'll be happy not to be able to afford our gas bills because we'll be able to marry someone of the same-sex and have our unions blessed by the State and raised to the status of marriage?

Pro-Life Dylan

Cardinal Raymond Burke on the Eucharist

I was, sadly, unable to see or hear Cardinal Raymond Burke in the flesh today, but I am heartened to hear that this wonderful Cardinal has a new book out called Divine Love Made Flesh.

Read more at Life Site News about his new publication.

Christians Wake Up!

And fight the New World Order! Wear a Crucifix everywhere you go!

Like some readers I find Alex Jones a bit much. I mean can you imagine going for a pint with him. Hectic or what!

"You know what, Larry, make mine a Kronenburg but I don't trust beer either. I'll bet those globalists have put some chemical in it that'll make me either sterile or take five years off my life!"

That said, I found this clip of Jones recently talking with Lord Christopher Monckton, who claims that David Cameron's Government has applied to the EU explicitly to ban the wearing of crucifixes. He also has some interesting things to say about the Bishops of England and Wales.

The truth of the issue is that the Government has applied to stop people from wearing Crucifixes in the workplace only. But, then, I guess that you can start from the office and work your way out onto the pavement and then in people's homes and Churches and stuff. If you want more cheery news from Lord Monckton, then watch his other recent interview with Prison Planet, 'Agenda 21's Globalist Death Plan for Humanity'.

Happy Feast of Pentecost, readers, and remember that whenever Governments try to crush the Church the Church wins eventually. Maybe two thirds of humanity has to be wiped out before humanity gets the message that the Church was on the right track after all and that Government without God is a natural disaster waiting to happen.

I particularly like the bit where Jones says, "Maybe these EU bureaucrats/globalists really ARE vampires!"

And he wonders why Prison Planet doesn't get much credibility!

Youth Information Service Van in Catholic School Showdown

'Hi, I'll have a massive bag of condoms please. No flake, thanks...'

A part of the reason - among the many other facets of the State's incremental take-over of British society - that I believe we're headed for a dystopic situation in this country is the way in which central and local Government groom our children and feel it perfectly natural that the State should be the prime moral educators and indeed general educators of children.

The phrase 'to groom' is particularly apt for this blog post as well, because on my way home today from a local park, I saw a Brighton and Hove City Council 'Youth Information Bus'.

Standing a little further away from the vehicle than the little nipper pictured above, you could be forgiven for thinking Preston Park had an ice cream van. It's a sweltering day and I may have even considered a 99 with a flake myself, but on arrival at the scene, I realised the only things of different flavours available at this little van would be condoms.

So, what is a van manned by two Council workers with leaflets, some seating inside and an array of prophylactics doing in Preston Park? Well, the youth workers wait there inside or outside the 'youth bus' for young people coming back from their schools and colleges just in case they 'need a chat' with some youth workers.

Of course the 'service' involved here is one of State to child. So, young people want to talk about things that are bothering them. It could be bullying at school, it could be a sensitive issue at home, or it could be that the young person wants to talk about the fact they drink too much alcohol or something. Or, it could be that they just need to top up their 'C-Card' so that the youth can carry on having sex with whoever they happen to be having sex with, safe in the knowledge that condoms are a not entirely successful way of avoiding an unwanted pregnancy.

So, naturally, with my eager Catholic blogger hat on, I approached the workers and asked whether they are involved in abortion referrals. For some reason, the idea of what resembles an ice cream van in a local park preying on young teenagers in order to get them into abortion clinics, I thought, would make for an interesting blog post. The workers replied that only GPs can refer abortions but that if someone approached them telling them they had an unwanted pregnancy and they wanted an abortion that they would be able to "signpost" that person to an abortion clinic. Personally, I thought that wasn't that much of a juicy story, but I did spy some leaflets in their windows from Brook, advertising their 'counselling services' to young people who just wanted a 'confidential chat' about issues that affect them. It's not a juicy story because we've all known for a long time how involved youth 'services' have been in State schools.

If anything, its a surreal, rather 'Big Brother' situation when the ice cream van is absent from the park but the condom van is regularly there waiting for children to come and pick from their selection. I was just about to leave when, astonishingly, the worker decided to voluntarily divulge extra 'information' of which I was certainly previously unaware.

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove

The youth service worker decided told me that the Council's Youth Information Service (not to be confused with Connexions - who in Brighton, at least, - lost their funding) have been doing some work with the children of Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove.

I replied that what with the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception being what it is, that the fact they are doing this 'sexual health service' thing with Cardinal Newman is rather odd.

She replied that for that reason the 'youth information bus' is not allowed on the school premises. But, she added, instead they situate themselves about 100 - 200 yards away up the road near the Texaco garage, so that Catholic children can access their 'services'. So, naturally, I asked them how the school feel about that situation. The worker replied that the school are 'not unsupportive' of their work.

I wonder, how 'not supportive' of their work with Cardinal Newman's children would the school be if all the parents of Cardinal Newman children knew that there was a van distributing condoms to their children and 'signposting' their children for abortions? How 'not unsupportive' of the work of the youth information bus with Cardinal Newman children be if the Bishop was aware of it? How 'not unsupportive' would the school be if the presence of the bus just yards away from the Catholic High School with the school's tacit consent were a fact known by the Catholic Church on a local and even national level?

It appears to me that the fact that Cardinal Newman don't have the minibus on their premises but have no objections to the youth service's 'work' with Cardinal Newman children just yards down the road means that the school have a 'hear no evil, say no evil, speak no evil' policy towards the Council's 'safe sex' service. Of course, whether a Catholic Bishop with Crozier in hand and Mitre on head, whose chief 'safeguarding' job is to defend Catholic children from those who wish to destroy his little flock members body and soul would take the same view of this situation is perhaps a question which could be directed to His Lordship, once he is fully informed of these affairs. If I were in the Council's youth information service team, right now, I would be very, very worried, because I cannot imagine any Catholic Bishop being in any way happy about this situation in which the State is encroaching on the religion, morality and beliefs of Catholic schools, teachers, parents and, indeed, children.

You (and I) can contact Bishop Kieran Conry to alert His Lordship to this situation by emailing him at: bishop@dabnet.org and/or His Lordship's Secretary: sue.jennings@dabnet.org

By all means, feel free to quote from this blogpost. Oh and do say a Hail Mary that the Youth Information Service bus gets told to clear off from preying on Catholic high school kids and young adults in Brighton and Hove. As a Catholic who may one day be a parent with a child at school, it would certainly worry me if the Catholic School in my local area did not engage in some kind of a showdown with the Council over this matter. After all, wasn't it the Council who recently cut the local bus transport service to Cardinal Newman Catholic School?

Dystopia Song

Dystopia

Develop a pill that can prevent fertilisation
And another that can seek out and destroy
The embryo
Drop them like a megaton A-bomb
All across the sheer face of the Western world

Stand back and watch like J. Robert Oppenheimer
Declare "I am become Death, the destroyer of Worlds"
Make it easy, make it free to all nations
Do it all in the name of women's liberation

Sit back and laugh as the birth rate suddenly plummets
Pour your cash into Planned Parenthood and into Marie Stopes
Watch the hounds tearing children to pieces
Call it "safe, legal, rare reproductive health"

Spread at home and abroad State sex education
Get them starting nice and early
Then watch their inhibitions go!
Divorce marriage from all previous notions
That held families together
Generations ago

It's a dysto-oh-oh-oh pia!
Dystopia
Oh-oh-oh-oh pia
It's a dysto-oh-oh-oh pia!
Dystopia
Oh-oh-oh-oh pia

Raise the standard and the cost of everyday living
Make it harder to have children than it was all those years ago
Ensure motherhood's a temporary measure
A brief interruption in her economic cycle

Erase the Cross, Resurrection and your civilisation
Your conscience and crown a new dawn of atheism
Hold the Church up to public scorn
Declare your faith in reason infallible

'Why are we here?'
We're not sure but science must have the answer!
Let the new priests experiment on human embryos
Call it progress 'medical advancement'
(of Dr Josef Mengele's warped imagination)

Now you've made a lonely aging population
And the State can't afford to prop up all the care homes
Sell the public euthanasia
'Kill your grandma and you can take the inheritance!'

Manipulate markets and exploit global finance
Watch livelihoods crumble and watch as democracy falls
Like dominos amid a currency collapse
Just like they did before in the last World Wars

The people think you're just a regular rocker, a'fella
Associate your name with the humanitarian cause
While your politicians use threats of Terror
To take human liberty and show it the door

Use your influence in supranational institutions
Use your might to direct the UN Population Fund
Use your media for eugenic agendas
As summarised by Agenda 21

Convince the countries we're a cancer over population
Use your wealth to 'save the planet' it's oh so Malthusian
The West gets so drunk that it wakes in the morning
In bed with some godless 'Chinese model'

Help perpetuate and spread the 'errors of Russia'
The Euphrates to the Gulf of Mexico and Norfolk Broads
You didn't 'bank' on coming forth round the corner
Fair as the morn and bright as the sun...

Quae est ista quae progreditur
Quasi aurora consurgens
Pulchra ut luna,
Electa ut sol
Terribilis
Ut
Castrorum acies ordinata?

O, O, O pia
O, O-O-oh-oh-oh pia
Virgo-oh-oh-oh
Mar-aria-aria-oh-oh-oh-oh
Virgo-O-O
Maria
O pia Maria
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Bye bye to, bye bye to, bye bye to your
Dystopia-Oh-oh-oh-oh

Quae est ista quae progreditur?

Quae est ista quae progreditur?

Quae est ista quae progreditur?

Quae est ista quae progreditur?

O, O, O, O, O, O,
Our Lady of Fatima

Justice and Peace Have Kissed

'Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.' 

Of course, The Tablet and the bureaucratic monolith that is the Diocesan justice and peace machine don't like what Bishop Mark Davies has done.


As James Preece asks, why don't you hear The Tablet whinging when Churches close?


Say a prayer for those who have been made redundant in the Diocese of Shrewsbury that they find proper jobs soon.

Sullivan's Messiah

Andrew Sullivan is a writer for Newsweek. He also claims to be a Christian. May I suggest that Mr Sullivan believes in the man with the halo, but not in the Man with the Crown of Thorns. It's interesting to note to whom he attributes divinity.

Ascension Day Confusion

Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith has posted at the Catholic Herald on the dangers with moving such great Feasts of the Church such as Ascension Day to Sundays.

Because of attending a Church which embraces both the ancient rite and the Novus Ordo as two forms of the one rite, I was pondering whether Catholics in Brighton could be forgiven for thinking the Lord ascended twice.

'So, the Lord Ascended Thursday, came back down from Heaven to say some choice words to some of His Bishops, then went back up again on Sunday?'

If you were a child who attended some parish Masses across the United Kingdom on both Ascension Days, that's the message you might walk away with.

Mgr Keith Newton at St Mary Magdalen

Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is talking at St Mary Magdalen Church this Thursday on Ecumenism. Not to be missed!

A Solution to the 'Hail Mary Problem'?

The answer to Bishop Kieran Conry's concerns over the Hail Mary in Mass?

The Catholic Herald this week carried a story that the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton has criticised the use of the Hail Mary in the Mass, I believe because it is a national custom not mentioned in the rubrics of the Universal Church.

English Catholics are, however, fond of the Marian prayer at the end of the bidding prayers in the Mass and many would be sad to see it disappear.

Is His Lordship perhaps hinting that it would be prudent to overcome such innovations and abuses by introducing the Faithful in England and Wales to Mass in the language of the Universal Church, perhaps in the ancient rite? After all, this would bring an end to national customs, the aforementioned and other liturgical abuses such as the use of pottery chalices.  This, I believe, would be a sensitive and pastoral way in which to bring to the Mass in your average parish both a universality in keeping with our communion with our brothers and sisters abroad as well as with those who have gone before us. Problem solved and the Faithful get to say the Hail Mary at the end of Mass during the Leonine prayers, as well as the prayer to St Michael.

Consultation Responses: Respond Today...

Just a quick post to let readers know that the Government's computer system, which crashed the last time it opened itself up for responses to the Government's consultation over 'equal civil marriage', otherwise known as 'gay marriage' or 'the destruction of the institution of marriage'...is now working.

Click here to have your say on the Government's consultation, which Lynne Featherstone has assured us is a cosmetic exercise in democracy because HM Government are going to do it anyway. The C4M site has rather helpfully given a list of decent responses to the Government plan, so you don't have to reel out all the arguments yet again.

Happy Feast of the Ascension.

Dystopia

 

Dystopia

Develop a pill that can prevent fertilisation

And another that can seek out and destroy

The embryo

Drop them like a megaton A-bomb

All across the sheer face of the Western world

Stand back and watch like J. Robert Oppenheimer           

Declare “I am become Death, the destroyer of Worlds”

Make it easy, make it free to all nations

Do it all in the name of women’s liberation

Sit back and laugh as the birth rate suddenly plummets

Pour your cash into Planned Parenthood and into Marie Stopes

Watch the hounds tearing children to pieces

Call it “safe, legal, rare reproductive health”

Spread at home and abroad State sex education

Get them starting nice and early

Then watch their inhibitions go!

Divorce marriage from all previous notions

That held families together

Generations ago

It’s a dysto-oh-oh-oh pia!

Dystopia

Oh-oh-oh-oh pia

It’s a dysto-oh-oh-oh pia!

Dystopia

Oh-oh-oh-oh pia

Raise the standard and the cost of everyday living

Make it harder to have children than it was all those years ago

Ensure motherhood’s a temporary measure

A brief interruption in her economic cycle

Erase the Cross, Resurrection and your civilisation

Your conscience and crown a new dawn of atheism

Hold the Church up to public scorn

Declare your faith in reason infallible

‘Why are we here?’

We’re not sure but science must have the answer!

Let the new priests experiment on human embryos

Call it progress ‘medical advancement’

(of Dr Josef Mengele’s warped imagination)

Now you’ve made a lonely aging population

And the State can’t afford to prop up all the care homes

Sell the public euthanasia

‘Kill your grandma and you can take the inheritance!’

Manipulate markets and exploit global finance

Watch livelihoods crumble and watch as democracy falls

Like dominos amid a currency collapse

Just like they did before in the last World Wars

The people think you’re just a regular rocker, a‘fella

Associate your name with the humanitarian cause

While your politicians use threats of Terror

To take human liberty and show it the door

Use your influence in supranational institutions
Use your might to direct the UN Population Fund
Use your media for eugenic agendas
As summarised by Agenda 21

Convince the countries we're a cancer over population
Use your wealth to 'save the planet' it's oh so Malthusian
The West gets so drunk that it wakes in the morning

In bed with some godless 'Chinese model'

Help perpetuate and spread the ‘errors of Russia’

The Euphrates to the Gulf of Mexico and Norfolk Broads

You didn’t ‘bank’ on coming forth round the corner

Fair as the morn and bright as the sun…

Quae est ista quae progreditur

Quasi aurora consurgens

Pulchra ut luna,

Electa ut sol

Terribilis

Ut

Castrorum acies ordinata

O, O, O pia

O, O-O-oh-oh-oh pia

Virgo-oh-oh-oh

Mar-aria-aria-oh-oh-oh-oh

Virgo-O-O

Maria

O pia Maria

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Bye bye to, bye bye to, bye bye to your

Dystopia-Oh-oh-oh-oh
O, O, O, O, O, O,
Our Lady of Fatima

The Cruelty of New Steine Mews: Update

I've just heard from Mr Evans that New Steine Mews refused Jason his clothes from his room two days ago because of what I wrote on my blog.

I believe Jason because Jason didn't know I'd written anything on my blog therefore I don't require the 'other side to the story'.

New Steine Mews, however, did know because I sent them links to both of my blogs.

So, they make a man homeless, evict him with none of his possessions. Then, after he's been out in the rain for a few days and he needs his clothes, he goes back to see them to get them and he's told that he cannot have them because someone has written something unpleasant about the near total lack of compassion or empathy the staff there have with the homeless.

If you would like to make known your views on this, feel free to contact the staff at New Steine Mews at:

hostel@nsmhostel.org.uk

...and let your views be known.

Look, I know that Jason can be 'hard work' but talk about kicking a man when he's down. But hey, that's my fault for exercising free speech, isn't it? I guess that's why Our Lord told His disciples to clothe the naked. He knew the State wouldn't think to do it. They can consider it war, then. There must be a way for all of Brighton to know of their wicked treatment of the poor. I'll have a think. Still, its heartening to know that its not just the homeless that the State has it in for, but the disabled as well. Oh, and the elderly. And the unborn.

As someone has kindly commented, out in the world for those to whom law applies, what has taken place is theft. For those consider themselves above the law of both God and man, what has taken place is just revenge because if you're poor, or homeless or without power or status in this World, your rights mean nothing.

Mouthwatering LMS Conference 2012

Book online here.

Essential Equipment for the Chastisement

If you live in Brighton, it may be worth investing in one of these...

Last week the Holy Father canonised St Hilderberg of Bingen. In fact, it is being reported that Pope Benedict XVI officially recognised what the Church had already considered of the 12th century mystic and that the Church had now "inscribed her in the catalogue of Saints".

It is worth noting His Holiness's words on this Saint, as reported by The Catholic Herald...

"In St Hildegard’s time, there were calls for radical reform of the Church to fight the problem of abuses made by the clergy, the Pope had said. But she “reproached demands to subvert the very nature of the Church” and reminded people that “a true renewal of the ecclesial community is not achieved so much with a change in the structures as much as with a sincere spirit of penitence”.

12th century, 21st century. You wouldn't have thought they would be similar and yet a desire for 'renewal' is expressed in the Church by many - including the Holy Father himself, among supporters which number Bishops, Cardinals, Clergy, Religous and Laity.

St Hildegard, as Le Fleur de Lys too has noted, was a great mystic as well as a composer of timeless music of the Church and received visions from God which met with a degree of opposition in her time. Her writings, poetry and music express an ardent love for God to which few will attain. She was also a prophetess and many see her writings concerning 'things to come' in the line of prophecy which culminates with Our Lady of Fatima's apparitions in Portugal in 1917 - prophecies which concern the future of the Church and the World. The Catholic Knight has a good piece for those interested in such prophecies, but the bit that has personal resonance for me is this excerpt:

"Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent by an earthquake, storm and tidal waves will be devastated. It will be divided, and in great part submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea, and lose its colonies in the east through a Tiger and a Lion. The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues. [After the] great Comet, the great nation will be devastated by earthquakes, storms, and great waves of water, causing much want and plagues. The ocean will also flood many other countries, so that all coastal cities will live in fear, with many destroyed. All sea coast cities will be fearful and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease."

I really don't know what to make of Catholic prophecies. We do not have to believe in them. What with living in Brighton, though, I have to say that it is not entirely implausible that the 'city by the sea' is on Our Lady's hit list because not only is sodomy and abortion rife but the poor are treated with indifference or worse though Eastbourne may just survive. And, unfortunately, what with living on the ground floor of a tower block, my chances of surviving the wave of terror are slim. All I can do is pray, do penance, pray the Rosary, hope and pray that I'm in a State of Grace if or when it happens and invest in one of those rubber dinghy things. I believe they're about £17.50 at the moment for sale on the seafront...

Poverty, Chastity and Obedience

At last week's Catechism discussion group at St Mary Magdalen's Church we discussed the consecrated life in the Church.

In particular, we were discussing the three vows of religious life - poverty, chastity and obedience. It was a very thought provoking discussion.

Strangely, though, it got me thinking about non-Catholics that I know living in hostels around Brighton.  One friend lives at St Patrick's hostel in Hove. Aside from the fact that many of those living in the hostels of Brighton have 'issues' like we all have 'issues' - ranging from mental health to alcohol and drug abuse - the life of a hostel dweller is quite monastic in its basic format.

First, you really only get into these hostels if you are on benefits - so you live on a minimum allocated amount each week with which to buy your food, top up your rent, buy your necessaries. Of course, if you find it hard to budget, or have a particular addiction or habit that causes you to lose a great deal of your money quickly then you are dependent on the charity of others. Unitentionally, you have fulfilled one of the chief criteria of religious life - Poverty.

Of course, if you live in St Patrick's hostel, you aren't actually allowed visitors to stay overnight. So, you can forget about taking home a lady or having any sexual relationships if you live there. Unwittingly, you have fulfilled or are fulfilling another vow of religous life - Chastity.

Then, because you live under the roof of the hostel owners, you have to live under those ground rules mentioned above. You don't actually have anything to do during the day so you just walk around town all day begging. However, if you overstep some 'marker' or are found to be guilty of some form of 'anti-social behaviour' then you know that you will be evicted with no notice whatsoever. Therefore, you have to be obedient and on good behaviour towards your superiors - the staff of the hostel. Unwittingly, you have fulfilled the third aspect of the religious life - Obedience.

Of course, the great difference between this person and the religious is that one has been placed in this situation by the Council. The other has chosen it as his vocation. One involves having no choice at all - save for the street - the person in question has actually slept in bushes for a prolongued period of time - the other has chosen freely to live under these conditions in order to dedicate himself more solely to following Christ and loving the Lord. And, of course, while the hostel dweller has not chosen to live in community with others who have not chosen to be there either, the religous has chosen to live in community with others who have chosen to be there.

The issue of choice, of prayer, of expressed human will are central to those who go into consecrated life. The two situations are, of course, entirely different for those reasons - yet those who choose it discover that it is liberating. Those who do not choose it, but are coerced into a similar setting do not find it liberating but imprisoning. I was struck by how even though these two situations are entirely disimilar, they are strangely the same. There is one similarity however. A lot of people in hostels detest each other. Sadly, the same is true of some religious houses.

Finally, of course, unemployment and begging brings to hostel dwellers the derision of the World - those who are marked by addictions - even former addictions - are considered to be 'scum' by many. Therefore they are humbled and take the lowest place in society - and humility is, of course, what all religious are seeking.

Tears with Mears

Mears: Brighton company in charge of council housing repairs on stock exchange

 I found the following comment on The Eye of a Needle blog. I don't get many comments on that blog so its an interesting 'lead'.

'Teresa has left a new comment on your post "Brighton and Hove City Council and Mears Group: A ...":
what a disgusting waste of taxpayers money, want to see some more of mears work come to Burwash Road Hove BN3 8GP and view a flat that has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom with black mold on the ceilings and walls its an eye opener to see this be outside Burwash pharmacy at 12noon on monday 12th may 2012 at 12noon and you can see it for yourself and Brighton Council expect a family with 4 children to move into this health hazard.'

Interesting, eh?  I can't make that appointment as it happens, but it sounds like someone else in Brighton wants the truth about the Mears Group and their care of Brighton's social housing to be exposed.

'Promoting True Marriage? That's Just Not On!'

Do read Dr Joseph Shaw's latest post and the Cranmer promotion of the Coalition for Marriage advert that elicited mouth-foaming from the Advertising Standards Authority decrying its 'offensive and homophobic' content.

Anyone would have thought the gay marriage law was already in operation and the thought police had been given the go-ahead for the round up already. It looks a little big for my sidebar, but it's a neat little ad. If this is the most offensive advertisement out there in the big bad media, then I'll eat Cardinal Arinze's turkey.

The Cruel Hypocrisy of New Steine Mews

Jason two years ago...

 From The Eye of a Needle

Just recently I have been struck by the indifference and hypocrisy of some of the hostel workers in Brighton. In particular, New Steine Mews appears to be quite a case in point.

Jason Evans, now homeless once more in Brighton has some pretty stinging words to say about his experiences resulting in his eviction from New Steine Mews, the 'Place of Change' in Brighton.

According to Jason, the reason for his eviction is as follows:

Jason was in the reception talking with one of the staff members of the hostel. For some reason or another, the particular staff member is alleged to have called Jason an 'Arabic bastard'. Not being one to always turn the cheek, Jason, in response, called the staff member a 'Spanish bastard' in return. Jason maintains that later in the evening the two men shook hands and were able to overcome whatever mild altercation they had had earlier.

'Big deal', you might be thinking and I'd agree with you. But it is a big deal to New Steine Mews and it is now a bigger deal to Jason because he's sleeping out in the pretty awful damp and rain of May, the month, incidentally, of Mary the Queen of Heaven. Having shook hands with the staff member and patched things up, Jason was informed the next day that he was to be evicted. He claims that he wasn't given an actual reason for his eviction - he just assumes that the above story is the reason.

New Steine Mews workers, for homeless hostel workers, appear to lack any compassion or heart in their dealings with the homeless. Jason was evicted without being able to collect any of his belongings. He now stands around in the rain with all that he has, which is the clothes that he stands in. He isn't allowed back on site to collect any of his belongings - a coat - or any blankets or bedding. He has no sleeping bag. He didn't like New Steine Mews. In fact, I am yet to meet anyone who has anything good to say about the 'Place of Change', but, that said, it was a roof over his head.

It is about time that more people in Brighton realised that homeless hostels like New Steine Mews are one of the primary reasons why homelessness perpetuates itself in Brighton. The homeless, in the eyes of the Council and of their hostels have no actual rights. If they are deemed to have 'overstepped the mark' in any way, they are slung into the street in whatever they are wearing.  The homeless aren't cared for - in fact - it is almost as if they are merely exploited by the hostels system so that local government agencies or private agencies can reap a whirlwind of housing benefit payments.

Jason's keyworker expressed shock that Jason had been made homeless again, having noted how 'well he was doing' in his behaviour and in meeting various appointments that Jason had to attend. For me, what is shocking about Jason's treatment is the total lack of regard that the Council - and its workers - has for Jason's human rights - the right to shelter and the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Of course, these ideals may not be held up for Jason, but we know that just as in Animal Farm, 'some people are more equal than others'.

Take, for instance, one resident of New Steine Mews, a transgender man who dresses like a lady. He still has his essentials, so I am told, but I am informed that this person, who biologically speaking, is still a man, lives on the women's block of New Steine Mews. His rights appear to be greatly respected. So respected, in fact, that I am informed that his behaviour, which is regularly abusive and threatening, is overlooked just as frequently. I was told that the individual recently threw his crutches at a member of staff at reception. This is, I think you would agree, an act of violence against a member of staff - not something Jason has been accused of - and yet his treatment by New Steine Mews seems to be rather more protective and understanding than is Jason's. It seems to me that all Jason has to do is say the wrong thing at the wrong time - this time under provocation by a member of staff - and he is told to sling his hook and sleep in the cold and rain.

The hypocrisy of New Steine Mews is cynical and double-edged. Firstly, the staff don't care what happens to those who walk through the door or those who they sling out of it. Their actions, their prejudice and their neglect of those in their care makes an absolute mockery of their supposed objective of creating a 'place of change' or of protection for those vulnerable homeless adults in their care. Secondly, from what I've been told, the staff treat different homeless residents differently and according to different criteria, so that some are protected in the name of 'equality', but there is no 'equality' of treatment for their residents. I guess its just an LGBT thing. Indeed, 'some are more equal than others'.

If anyone reading this wants to buy Jason a sleeping bag, then email me as I personally don't have much money at the moment. It's soaking wet outside but New Steine Mews don't appear to care too much about Jason's fate.

'‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

I'll leave New Steine and the Council to look at that quote in case they don't know its Author. New Steine Mews seem quite adept at trying to sort out the 'sheep from the goats' at their hostel. We who believe in true Justice - rather than the reckless kind of arbitrary justice distributed by mankind - know that in the End, the scales of Justice will fall in favour of the poor, the weak, the discarded and abandoned in this World and against those who oppressed them. Ultimately, no human law, bar those of the human rights court in Europe can ensure that Jason is treated humanely and with dignity. It really is a matter of human conscience and at New Steine Mews, conscience is not the order of the day. No. At New Steine Mews, the order of the day is Equality...for some, but not for others.

'Moving Beyond Jesus'

I apologise if I have scandalised any readers by forgetting to bow my head at every mention of the name of our Blessed Saviour.

'Moving Beyond Jesus' 

Take an association of nuns
Tell them habits inhibit woman
‘Lose the wimples girls
Show a little more leg’
Introduce them to feminism

Make them think the Holy Church has moved on
From all that stuff about Salvation
'Lose the Rosaries girls'
Replace them with Myers Briggs
Get them teaching yoga lessons

Now you’ve got them teaching all the children in the schools everything but the Catechism
And of vice and virtue the children hear nothing
For the nuns have found a new vocation
Teaching children the Mass is just a friendly meal with Jesus
Just bread and wine
Symbolism
There’s no need to kneel
So just do what you feel in the Church and in the bedroom

‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
Into the darkness, far from the Light

Now you’ve destroyed their spiritual life
Appeal to their intellectual pride
Introduce them to Marx
Introduce them to Lennon
Hell, why not introduce them to Freud?

Take an association of nuns
You’ll have them falling into schism
Depict the Church as old-fashioned, outmoded patriarchal
Oppressor of the Catholic woman

Make rebellion as attractive to the Orders as tulips in the springtime sun
"She’d never thought of the Priesthood
Didn’t think it could happen
But now she wants to be one"
Now they’re marching for choice and publicly supporting the ‘right’ to an abortion
You got nuns condoning murder, artificial contraception
Looks like you’ve succeeded in your mission

You got them ‘moving beyond Jesus’
They are ‘moving beyond Jesus’
Yes they’re ‘moving beyond Jesus’
Moving so far out of sight

‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
Foolish virgins looking for a light

Bishops ‘moving beyond Jesus’
Clergy ‘moving beyond Jesus’
Religious ‘moving beyond Jesus’
Into the arms of the Antichrist

‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
‘We are moving beyond Jesus’
The nuns who left Jesus behind
Only to find Him at the End of Time
The nuns who left Jesus behind
Only to find Him at the End of Time

From "Hope and Change" to "Forward"

Good article from the Washington Times on the new Obama election slogan, "Forward" and the 'rich association' the phrase has, in political language, with European Marxism.

Oh, and I picked the story up on Prison Planet, by the way.

If Belloc were alive today, I'm sure he'd skim over Prison Planet every now and then just to get a different take on things. He was open-minded like that.

Quick Guardian Vote

Vote on gay marriage poll here.

I know it sounds odd, but vote 'Yes'.

Hans Kung on Vatican II: "Continuity and Discontinuity"

Warning: Staring at this image induces dizziness and nausea...

Well, as usual, to round up the week, I took a look at The Tablet's website to see what's abounding at the magazine trapped in the 70s and with a readership of a similar age and, to my amusement, I saw this article concerning one Hans Kung...

'Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has blamed Professor Hans Küng for creating anti-Roman sentiments among German-speaking Catholics and for a widespread misinterpretation of the Second Vatican Council.

"In the German-speaking world there has been, above all, the diffusion of Küng's idea that the Council constituted a rupture with the tradition of the Church and not an evolution of it," the Swiss cardinal said in an interview in the Italian magazine I Tempi. "In my opinion, this interpretation has caused the current disquiet [in the Church]," he said.

The 84-year-old theologian rejected the hypothesis. "I have never affirmed that Vatican II was an act of rupture with Tradition," Fr Küng told The Tablet this week. "It was an epochal paradigm shift that involved both continuity and discontinuity," he said.

I'll leave that little nugget for readers to mull over, but it is an interesting choice of words, isn't it? 'Epochal' suggests it belongs to a particular age, which in hindsight, appears to be the case. 'Paradigm shift' suggests that a new emphasis was placed on new interpretations and ideas and that this shift involved both continuity with the past - and discontinuity. So, that's the hermeneutic of continuity and discontinuity, then, which is quite a concept to hold together.

But holding different concepts together is Fr Kung's forte and if you're wondering where I found the bizarre symbol pictured above, I can tell you I found it on the Global Ethic Foundation, which sounds startlingly similar to the Tony Blair Foundation. I didn't realise that the project is the baby of Fr Hans Kung himself and that he himself is President of the organisation working on what appears to be a kind of perpetual 'Assisi II'. It's a fascinating website, I must say, in which we can see but also hear the ideas of Fr Kung and his personal biography and beliefs through the headphones, but you would be hard pushed to think Fr Kung is a Catholic, let alone a Catholic Priest.

I'll let you trawl through Fr Kung's Global Ethic Foundation site here. Good Lord, I just saw the front page! It's a photo montage of the Lord Jesus, what looks like some automobile manufacturers, President Obama and the Buddha among others and some flags that look like they could be from outside the UN. Funny thing is that when the woman's voice and the man's voice comes on telling you all about Fr Kung's ideas, you feel like you're in a museum. Especially with headphones on. It's a very flash website and its clear that Fr Kung is getting on very well in the World, but I don't think he's as rich as Tony Blair yet.

Don't get me wrong, I think lots of religions working together towards global peace in search of a common ethic is a great idea. Let's call the idea something new and radical like 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength and understanding and love your neighbour as yourself'. Its just that there's something quite odd about a Catholic Priest's website having a section on Christianity (among other World religions) under the heading, 'Who is Jesus Christ?' and another heading in the same section on Christianity asking the question, 'Who is God?' Surely that could have been examined a little under the previous section? No. Not really, because as the webpage says, Kung 'pursued an historical understanding of Jesus "from the bottom up"'. Yikes! I'm sure he'll forgive me when I say that for a Catholic Priest, his organisation's website looks more than a little Masonic, but hey, I guess Kung is one of those theologians who belong to an 'epoch' of 'paradigm shifts' that involved both 'continuity...and discontinuity'! Fr Hans Kung: The man who led the Church out of the promised land of milk and honey and into the slavery of many false gods.

I have to keep heeding Petrus's words that there is no conspiracy. There is no conspiracy. There is no conspiracy. After all, Fr Hans Kung is all theory.

Vultures Circling Over Ireland

The news concerning the Irish Church continues to be depressing. However, the fall out of the abuse scandal in Ireland - a scandal that seems to have been covered up by State and Church alike - has other repercussions for Ireland other than the collapse of Faith.

Ireland is one of the few States that has given into the clamour to make  abortion widely available.  It remains highly restricted. While the United Kingdom recognised the 'woman's right to choose' in 1967, Ireland has done considerably well to hold the fort against those forces inside and outside the country that believe that abortion is the answer to the 'problem' of pregnancy.  Indeed, as Lifesitenews confirms, Ireland - one of the very few states in Europe not to have made freely available  - remains a world leader in maternal health.

Facts like this, however, do not stop the enemies of the unborn child, the family and the Church smelling blood when the Church appears to look like a carcass.  Given the collapse of faith in Ireland, it is heartening that in April 2012, the Irish Parliament rejected a Socialist Party proposal to make abortion more available to its citizens by 109 - 20 votes. Will a huge loss of Faith in Ireland mean the country will lose its belief in the sanctity of human life in the womb? It is difficult to say but there can be no doubt that there are vultures hovering over Ireland who wish to take advantage of the declining role of the Church in the country.

The homosexual agenda, too, is being advanced in Ireland with some considerable success, if you can call it that, with the young.  While Ireland has hitherto rejected calls for unrestricted abortion, the gay agenda has had significant victories in a country which has hitherto been understood as deeply Catholic. The fall out from the abuse crisis can perhaps be seen in a poll undertaken by Red C on behalf of the Irish Government, finding that 73% of the Irish public back allowing same-sex marriage in the constitution. Clearly, then, while there exists a strong pro-life movement in Ireland, it does appear that Ireland, sadly, is another community of people who are moving beyond Catholicism and 'beyond Jesus'.

We must all hope and pray that Ireland will return to the Church despite the great loss of trust and respect which the Church is currently experiencing, but, it will also be worth taking note of how Ireland responds to the secular forces at work within and without the country, in terms who moves in when Faith collapses in a country. Wherever Faith collapses, the enemies of the Church can see a void and a void must be filled. Even Al Quaeda, apparently, saw the opening void in the heart of Ireland and viewed it as potentially fertile ground for Islam. Forces working within supranational institutions like the UN and organisations like Marie Stopes International will be hovering over the country, hoping to pick off the unborn. Forces within the gay movement will be hovering over looking to take advantage of the loss of Faith and even radical Islamists sense a moment of opportunity.

The forces that seek to chew upon the carcass of the Church in Ireland are secular and ideological in the main. They will surely seek to take the place of Catholic Church in Ireland. Let's pray that trust will be restored between the people of Ireland and the Church, that the victims of the abuse crisis will find healing and that Ireland will rise again from the ashes of the collapse of Faith. Above all, let's pray for holy priests and even holier Bishops to lead Ireland out of the current mire, for, as a Catholics in countries which have given way to secular and ideological movements that do not respect the dignity of human persons, we are in a position to tell Irish Catholics that what appears as 'progress' is nothing of the sort. So often, what is sold to us as 'freedom' becomes a tyranny of selfishness and greed. We Brits have 200,000 abortions each year on our national conscience. 200,000 unborn babies lives are snuffed out every year in the UK. It is already becoming obvious that the homosexual agenda seeks to restrict freedom of speech and belief here, especially in the public sphere. Please God, let Ireland learn from our mistakes and not follow the ruinous road that we have taken.